Wedmont Private Capital Purchases 854 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 854 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 price target (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.13.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $0.61 during trading on Monday, hitting $505.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,668,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,351,229. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $425.48 and a 12 month high of $537.70. The business’s 50-day moving average is $524.09 and its 200 day moving average is $492.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market cap of $463.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.